"The applicants are asked to provide evidence that they are professional dancers," she said, adding that photos could be taken in foreign clubs before a woman began her performance.

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Union cards, references from employers and other evidence is also collected in support of an application, as it is for visa hopefuls from any other legal trade.

Vancouver Immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said the rule on what he termed "the inventory of nudie pictures" stemmed from a close monitoring by Canadian authorities of strippers coming into the country to work.

Eighty per cent of the 850 exotic dancers granted visas obtained their document from the Canadian embassy in Bucharest, Romania.

Authorities have found dancers there speak English and French, Canada's two official languages, are less likely to be involved in the vice trade than other countries and return home promptly when their jobs are over.

According to documents released under freedom of information laws, dancers from Moscow often provide soft-porn pictures to support their claims.